Uzumaki Karma
by Eishu
Summary: What if there was more than one Uzumaki in the village hidden in leaves?


If one were to ask about the family Uzumaki, anyone among the thousands of inhabitants in the village hidden in the leaf would conjure up the image of a certain blonde child of around 8 years old. Though, at first, thinking of such a small child would make one think of positive thoughts like cute, or frail, or something along those lines, what was unique with the certain orphan was the fact that the child was deliberately avoided by the mass civilization of the biggest village in the lands of ninjas. The reason wasn't anything like they'd feel endangered when they were near the young demon vessel that housed the legendary nine tails that had ravaged the village of almost half of its active ninjas, thinking the demon would leak out if they weren't careful enough. No, it was nothing as grand as that. He was being avoided just because the child was always seeking to bond with the villagers. Sure, it was misguided fear at first, but gradually, seeing as the fourth did a very good job on the sealing and with no sign of the demon getting out, it gave them some relief. But then, the child was so young! He didn't even know how to read and write, yet had the responsibility of holding back a demon that had killed so many of leaf people and turned it upside down. Through anyone's perspective, some random kid housing such a powerhouse in such a small body did nothing short of agitating them so much so that they came to loathe the boy himself, even more than the actual demon. The child, however, was ignorant to the responsibility he held, and, just like any other normal child, was hungry for some sort of attention, a confirmation of his being. From the beginning, it was an impossible connection; that is, between the villagers blinded by their own fears, and a child that knew nothing, and had nothing either.

What the villagers, as well as the pitiful child didn't know, was that there was another Uzumaki in the same village, with same blonde hair, same round face, apart from the whisker-like marks on his face and his dark purple eyes, the trait of every Uzumaki, and who was even younger than the first child. He was Karma Uzumaki, aged 7, turning 8 in the coming July, living on one of the abandoned rundown house on the outskirts of the great village. It was an active spot for the ninjas to take shelter in while returning from their mission, maintained by a housekeeper until the nine tails attack 11 years ago, but now it was in ruins. The small one-storeyed house looked to be barely holding itself from the outside, somehow managing to look well balanced, situated comfortably in the middle of the vast woods, however, on the inside, it was quite well maintained, with a bed, a small table with the latest model of a desktop computer on top of it, and a bookshelf filled with only a handful of books right beside it. There was also an area for a small kitchen on the other side of the place, with just a gas stove and a mini fridge. There was a cupboard, filled to the brim with different flavours of ramen. Despite being technically a resident of Konoha, no one other than the Hokage himself knew about the existence of the boy. Some konoha ninjas would once in a while stumble upon the quiet ruins, but would otherwise no one would approach it, finding nothing interesting about the place.

Currently, the blonde boy, Karma was staring at the screen of his computer with wide eyes as he followed the instructions given in the book he was holding on his small lap. This boy was the complete opposite of the other blonde Uzumaki across the village. While one was so desperate for recognition that he was currently busy pranking the Hyuuga compound with graffiti, this one was a natural born introvert who'd rather sit quietly on his table and try out different technology skills he attained through the books and the computer the Hokage had provided him with. On top of that, it seemed he had a knack for it as well. Though, being just a child, he would spend most of his time gaming with his computer, just like now. He took one more look at the game guide book and glanced up at the screen which showed various characters he could choose from.

By the time Karma had finally chosen a character he'd be playing among the 100 options he had, there was a soft knock on the door. He fluently ignored it and opened a new screen. The knock came back. He read the background of the character. Another knock, a louder one this time. He finally gave up, stood up and went to open the door, to be greeted by no one other than the Hokage himself.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you knock until now." The child said with practiced innocence, which the old man was absolutely not buying. The Hokage looked around the room, stopping on the mountain of empty ramen cups stacked on top of each other around the table. The boy shuffled nervously.

The old man sighed. "Karma, I know I've told you not to go out much, but you could actually do something to build up your physical stamina. Look at you, you're all sticks!" The Hokage exclaimed in a grandfatherly nagging voice.

"…I'll try." Said Karma, groaning to himself about stupid monthly visits.

"And here I was thinking maybe I could enrol you in the ninja academy soon." The Hokage said, to which Karma simply stared at stupidly.

"Why would I want to enter an academy?" He asked.

The Hokage moved near the window and stared out of the foggy glasses. "Didn't you say that you wanted to one day be able to use your clan's jutsus? For that, you need to first be trained as a ninja."

"Is there no other way? I could learn only the family jutsus!" Karma said in annoyance.

"You could, but most people fail with that path." The Hokage said, smiling at the small boy who was seriously contemplating what he just said. He knew that the boy knew if he were to attend this academy, he'd come across _people_ ; and he knew exactly how he despised it. But, it was a necessity. He knew the child couldn't just stay in this small place forever. He needed human interactions, whether he himself wanted it or not. And this was the perfect chance.

After a short while, the boy straightened his face. He had come to a conclusion. He Hokage smiled to himself. He would join the academy. However, the words that actually came out of the boy was-

"I don't want to!" stated Karma straight out. Seeing the old man's confused expression, he elaborated. "If I were to be a ninja, I'd be risking my life fighting, and I don't want to die until I find all my clan jutsus and clan techniques. Reviving the dead fuuinjutsu is my dream, and I am not dying before I fulfil that!" He said stubbornly.

The old man smiled fondly at that. This child had actually thought it through, and was not blindly saying no. However, "If you become a ninja, you can have achieve various benefits, one of them being able to travel around in missions, also you will have more chances of coming across fuuinjutsu scrolls and information you would have had not found if not for your position as a konoha protector."

At that, the child was awed and seemed to actually consider it. "You're not tricking me into it, are you? It's not like I hate being a konoha protector, but I don't want to be involved in dangerous things that can harm my study to my family history, or what's left of it."

"Yes, of course. I guarantee as the 3rd Hokage of Konoha that you'll definitely not regret your decisions. For now, just attend the academy, and by the end of graduation, it's your choice if you want to become a ninja or not." The old man then topped up one more sentence that would cease any more grumblings from the child. "There's an Uzumaki in the academy."

And that's how Uzumaki Karma, aged 7, despite disliking noise, crowds, talking to people, moving around people, or people in general, found himself travelling half the village everyday twice to the ninja academy.


End file.
